Fan Subculture

For my next series of posts I would like to leave for now the exciting world of music subculture and its devoted followers and enter into fan subculture, otherwise known as fandom. In this next series I would like to explore groups that follow Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter books and movies. These groups have a distinct niche in the subculture spectrum because they create their own identity from the characters viewed on the screen and through the text. These fans participate in conventions, online websites, blogs, podcasts, fan art, and other forms of expressing their interest. More to come soon...

Punk

According to Peter Jones in his article “Anarchy in the UK: ‘70s British Punk as Bakhtinian Carnival,” the subculture of British Punk formed as a rebellion of the repressed youth against a political and economic crisis in the UK. The youth of Britain in the 70s showed their resistance through music, dress, and behavior. Punk subculture questioned the fashion, typography, and above all the music industry. Musicians of the time, led by the Ramones and The Sex Pistols, wrote songs about topics that were considered to be taboo, such as unemployment, consumerism, the police, and royalty. Punk exposed the forgotten and neglected voices of the working-class and females, which were otherwise not listened to. People participating in punk subculture tried to shock and mock those who were wealthy and upper class. Disorder, filth, unrestrained pleasure and ugliness were central to Punk subculture. It was a stark contrast to those who were polished and authoritarian in Britain in the 1970s. During this movement self mutilation and scarification became popular ways to display rebellion. Tattoos, nose and mouth piercing, and wearing underwear on the outside of clothes were all popular symbols of resistance. Today the grotesque body is still the forerunner for everything punk. Punk subculture is still viewed as a rebellion against the government and authority. Punk fashion has become mainstream commercialized with entire stores devoted to black hoodies, Dickies pants, spiked collars, and safety pins, like Hot Topic.

Pop Music

Pop music is a subculture of devoted followers. The songs produced from this musical style has traits of emotional singing, lyrics about love or sex, a danceable beat, clear melodies, simple harmonies and repetitive structure so that people can catch on and join in. Some popular music icons of the millennium are Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, and Nelly Furtado. Since pop is such a broad category of music sounds many genres of music have divided off from mainstream pop to form their own categories. Bubblegum pop is one of the smaller genres. The defining characteristics of bubblegum pop include catchy melodies, three-chord structures, simple harmonies, and repetitive lyrics. Bubblegum pop has lightweight lyrics which may include nursery rhymes or nonsense lyrics. The theme of these lyrics are often about romance and courtship, and overall happy subjects. Nothing dark or brooding. The followers of this specific genre are usually preteens and adolescents. Synthpop is a different genre of pop which uses artificial synthesizers to produce a robotic, electronic sound. The style uses mechanical rhythms and vocal arrangements in contrast to the artificially produced instruments. This genre of pop music came to inspire what would later be known as techno. J-pop music is an integral part of Japanese popular culture. It is used throughout the culture in anime, commercials, movies, radio shows, TV shows, and video games. Recently, J-pop has become an international craze through video games and anime. In the case of anime, shows are normally sold in the West with their original soundtracks, affording more direct exposure. Some shows aired on television even become commercially available as ring tones.

Hip-Hop Fashion

While writing about rap subculture I stumbled upon some interesting fashion trends that those involved in hip-hop and rap subculture are participating in. These trends deserve a post of their own. The clothes worn by people in this subculture are placed at a greater value if they are designed by high end fashion designers, thus contributing to the bling-bling lifestyle which exemplifies materialistic wealth. For a more in depth explanation refer to my last post on rap music. Within the last decade there has been a split between male and female hip-hop fashion. Previously the fashion of both sexes had been similar in style, but with artists like Lil Kim the style for women changed to become more glamorous, sexy, and revealing. There are now entire clothing lines devoted to sexy hip-hop fashion, such as Kimora Lee Simmons’s company Baby Phat. Some staples for male fashion include large t-shirts, sagging jeans, platinum chains, and a do-rag tied around the head, sometimes with a baseball cap on top. However, the most interesting hip-hop fashion trend that I found so far is the popularization of grillz. Grillz are cosmetic dentures made from a shiny metal, like gold or platinum, and usually embedded with diamonds or other precious stones. The music video “Grillz” produced in 2005 by Nelly showcases many diverse styles of grillz that are common today in hip-hop subculture. Grillz can be purchased online, or from specialists like Paul Faucette. The grillz expert undeniably is Paul Wall, who is seen in the photo on the left. I found this photograph and more information on Grillz in Matt Rosenberg’s blog.

Rap Music

Rap music originated in the United States during the mid 1970s and became integrated into modern pop culture in the 1980s. Rap came from an oppressed African American youth as a form of cultural expression in New York City. Rap music is influenced by funk, blues, and soul genres of music. This form of music consists of two main components: rapping and DJing (production and scratching). Most lyrics are rhymes that use poetic techniques like assonance, and alliteration within the words. Usually the rapper is accompanied by an instrumental track, called a beat, which is created by a DJ. The golden age of hip hop was from 1985 to 1993, which combined the sounds of the East Coast, where artists were more complex, witty, versatile, and emphasized lyricism and West Coast styles. The years after produced the form of rap known as gangsta rap. In the early 1990s gangsta rap became a major part of American music, causing significant controversy over lyrics which promoted violence, promiscuity, drug use and misogyny. By that time hip hop and rap music had already become a staple of popular music charts and has contributed to styles across the world. Some form of rap now exists in the areas of Europe, Asia, The Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Today in the United States many gangsta rappers pursue the bling-bling lifestyle, which celebrates the idea of materialistic wealth and status like money, jewelry, cars, and clothing. Insiders in this rap subculture find distinctive belonging through their fashion, language, and media sources. We will explore those in the next post.

Screamo

While I was researching the emo subculture I discovered music genres I had never heard of before. These bands have split from the emo sub genre to define their own sound, some are defined as emocore which is short for emotional hardcore, or screamo which refers to a more chaotic and aggressive form of emo with screaming vocals, harmonized guitars, and fast-paced riffs. However, all bands have social and political themes in common. Screamo still incorporates emotional lyrics and chords, but is classified as hardcore emo. The internet has helped spread word of screamo. Napster helped the rise of this music genre by allowing anyone with an internet connection to access the music. The website MySpace, which offers free music profiles, includes screamo in its list of genres. Screamo is generally slower than hardcore or punk music and the vocals alternate between screamed and sung, similar to early emo music. Screamo bands such as A Day in Black and White tend to bury the vocals in with other instruments. Screamo is now an international genre. Bands existing in Europe are almost as affluent as those in America. Countries such as Japan and Australia have notable screamo scenes. The people who listen to screamo music tend to follow the same fashion guidelines as emo listeners. Some may adapt a more gothic or punk aspect to their clothing styles.
Watch a video from the screamo band Scary Kids Scaring Kids:

Emo

Emo is a sub genre of punk music. The term emo stands for emotional rock, because members of a band would become emotional during performances, Emo originated in the mid 1980’s in Washington, DC when musicians of the hardcore music scene decided to shift away from the basic style of hardcore punk and the violence associated with the music style. In the 1990s emo began to incorporate indie influences. The band Lifetime is a capstone of the emo music scene. Lifetime decided to slow down and soften their music and adding more personal lyrics that defined their sound. Lifetime's sound, lyrics, and style were a blueprint for later bands. In 2003 Chris Carrabba, the singer of Dashboard Confessional featured lyrics that were considered a diary of emotion. Earlier emo had featured lyrics that were darker and painful, but Carrabba's lyrics had a greater focus on love and the inability to cope with reality. This new emo sound had a bigger appeal among adolescents than earlier bands. Insiders in the emo subculture do more than just listen to the music. Emo fashion has roots in punk fashion as well as gothic fashion. Emo clothing is characterized by tight jeans on both males and females, long bangs often brushed to one side of the face, dyed black hair, tight t-shirts, studded belts, belt buckles, Chuck Taylor All-Stars, and thick black-rimmed glasses are considered the pinnacle of emo fashion. To watch a controvesial video on the Emo subcluture click below: